Every region of the country has its own natural disasters to worry about like tornados and hurricanes, and of course, for California, we have earthquakes and wildfires. While they all can be equally destructive, most forces of nature can be predicted somewhat in advance... except earthquakes. There's no warning on the local weather forecast giving residents time to evacuate or prepare their homes.

In recent years, though, science and technology have advanced enough to create the MyShake smartphone app that gives Los Angelenos a few seconds to brace themselves before the ground starts to rumble. Ground motion sensors placed throughout the state can detect that an earthquake has begun before humans can feel any shaking. For earthquakes at a 4.5…

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After 3 years of debate, Los Angeles City Council Planning and Land Use Management committee approved a draft ordinance on December 4, 2018, pushing forward a proposed regulatory structure for home-sharing platforms such as Airbnb and HomeAway. Los Angeles currently has no enforced regulatory system for how residents home-share.

The committee's approval of the full ordinance means that the full City Council could vote on it soon and work out the smaller details in the future. The ordinance would not take effect until July 1, 2019, or until a separate ordinance regulating non-primary residences is passed.

The draft ordinance that went before the PLUM Committee on Tuesday would allow qualified hosts to rent year-round (in a program called “extended”…

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Los Angeles City Hall

This Tuesday, Oct 24th, 2018 a Special Meeting of the Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee of the Los Angeles City Council convened to hear public comments on the proposed Home-Sharing Ordinance and adjourned without conclusion, again. The meeting was attended by members of the UNITE HERE Local 11, the Los Angeles Vacation Home Rental Alliance, Los Angeles Tenants Union, as well as concerned area landlords and home-share advocates. In the 3 years since the ordinance was proposed, it remains under review.

On June 2, 2015, City Councilmembers Mike Bonin and Herb Wesson first introduced the motion to direct the Department of City Planning to prepare an ordinance governing the use of short-term rentals (a portion of a residential building…

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Was fortunate enough to participate in very first group tour of the new Kaiser Permanente Baldwin Hills-Crenshaw Medical Offices (behind mall on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd) led by Assistant Physician in Charge, Latanya Hines, M.D.2017-08-18_11.54.00_400

 

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The new facilities are beautiful on the outside and state of the art on the inside.  In addition to the modern aesthetic and all the impressive tech there were some nice touches like the featured art pieces sourced by locally based artists.  Hopefully community members will receive many years of top notch medical services as a result of increased access via this new facility.

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The tour and a tasty catered lunch was facilitated by Crenshaw Chamber of Commerce.

 

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Kaiser Permanente…

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The Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO) has brought about a lot of changes for 2017. Among the most important of these are the Tenant Buyout Notification Program, or "Cash for Keys". Many of us have probably heard of, if not experienced firsthand, a landlord looking to strike a deal with a tenant to get them to move out of their unit. This tends to happen a lot in developing neighborhoods, where someone is looking to renovate an entire building and reopen at a higher pricing tier.

As this trend has grown, the city has taken notice. Through the Cash for Keys program, tenants in RSO covered housing will be better protected as tenant buyouts become more regulated and streamlined.

 

Knowledge is Power

 

One of the main ideas behind RSO changes for 2017…

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The Los Angeles Housing and Community Investment Department (HCIDLA) held a public hearing on Wednesday, February 1st down on Vermont and 85th street. The purpose was to discuss how federal funds are being used by the city to help communities in Los Angeles. Here's what they shared...

 

Five Years Later 

The speaker pointed out that HCIDLA was now in its 5th year of its 5-year program. This program has had four main objectives to help improve conditions. These are: 

  • The Community Development Block Grant
  • Home Investment Partnerships Program
  • Emergency Solutions Grant
  • Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development required that the city submit plans for these grants, and it has been a…

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Los Angeles is a very big, mixed up, beautiful mess of a city. Itís got bits that are clean and pretty, others that have more grit with hidden drinking and dining gems hiding behind nondescript storefronts and in back alleys. There are two things nearly all of LA has in common: low vacancy and high rents.


Rental site, Zumper, shows most of West LA from Playa Del Rey to Brentwood sitting at average 1-bedroom rents of over $1,800, with a number of hotspots over $2,400, and with Santa Monica alone able to claim an average of over $3,000 as if trying to compete with San Francisco prices.


While most Angelenos feel the increases on their finances, eyes turn to the battalion of construction cranes that dot the skyline. Before long, those cranes get replaced by…

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Don't Have time to read up on all the propositions or go to a "Proposition Party" (yes I did that last night)?...

 

Friends at LA Weekly have put together this handy cheat sheet...JUST FOR YOU!!!

 LA Weekly Voter Cheat Sheet

Awwww...wasnt that nice of them...be sure to click on 2-3 banner ads next time you read something on www.laweekly.com

 

 

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Too many Games

Too much Fraud (by property owners, agents & investors)

Easy Solutions

  In order to maximize the amount of money banks are receiving for their assets, their fiduciary duty to their shareholders and moral duty to the American taxpayers who have to bail them out when they get into financial trouble and are "too big to fail", banks need to introduce a higher element of transparency in the short sale transaction process.     Like many REO lenders have already started to do, all short sale offers should be submitted via a lender-direct website that goes directly to the loss mitigation department of the existing lien holders.    
  • No more putting your house up for short sale to extend the amount of time you can live for free. 
  • No…

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They should really be doing this in the geographic areas with the most foreclosures.  Los Angeles County has very few HUD foreclosures (mainly because no one used FHA prior to reform in 2007).  Borrowers are just going to use different loan products now so HUD won't end up getting anymore revenue...seems like a stupid move strategically by HUD.  I highly doubt this will drastically increase their revenues unless the goal of this is to get people to stop using FHA loans (which it might be for political reasons).  If this is the governments plan, homeowners prepare to get seriously screwed by private mortgage lending industry in coming…

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